Are we living in the Age of Entitlement?
Recently there was a news report about workers who claimed they were ‘entitled’ to work from home if they wished.
At the Royal Commission into antisemitism one aggressive pro-Palestinian campaigner seemed to believe she was ‘entitled’ to call for harm to Jews.
There are some members of the younger generation who seemed to have an ‘entitlement’ view of employment—they are ‘entitled’ not only to a job, but to the job they want (they should be supported by welfare until they find a job they like); and they are ‘entitled’ to rapid promotion (older generations should just get out their way).
Perhaps it’s just my jaundiced eye, but we seem to be surrounded by an unhelpful culture of ‘entitlement.’
The word ‘entitlement’ came into the English language in 1782 (from a much older Anglo-Norman word).
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English says ‘entitlement’ means the ‘right to have or do something.’
The Collins Dictionary uses almost identical words, while the Cambridge English Dictionary says almost the same thing.
There is universal agreement about this—a sense of ‘entitlement’ means the assumption that you have ‘rights.’
I blame the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’
This is a noble and well-intentioned document published by the United Nations in 1948.
But it failed to include any accompanying ‘Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities.’
The result is generations who have separated ‘rights’ from ‘responsibilities.’
The further result is a lack of any sense of having duties or obligations to anyone else.
As far as the ‘Entitled Generation’ is concerned, the world is all about them and their rights—and they have no obligations towards anyone else or to society in general.
Hence, the age we live—the Age of Entitlement.
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